Camelot's Darkest Hour
by Ermengarde de Neustrie
Summary: "Arthur is dead," she said in a soft voice. "Your king is dead. Camelot has fallen." Yet, the knowledge that Arthur is gone doesn't destroy Merlin. As a matter of fact, it makes him fight all the more.


**AN: **This ficlet was inspired by the amazing livejournal community _camelot_drabble_. This story was published a few years ago and the prompt it was written for has sadly been forgotten. Reading over my old fics, I've come to the realization that some of them do inspire me to write longer stories. For now, while I decide on what to do for this story idea, Camelot's Darkest Hour will be considered complete. A companion story may be published at some point. Or maybe even a multi chapter.

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_"The time has come, young warlock. Camelot's darkest hour has grown near. If you fail now, everything you and Arthur have built together will be destroyed."_

Merlin hadn't thought for a moment that it would come crashing down like this. He watched Morgana draw near to him with a smile that made her appear more like a wolf than a woman. As she drew closer, he struggled to get out of the ropes that had him bound to the floor, but his eyes never left her face even when the ropes began to bite further into his skin.

"Arthur is dead," Morgana said softly to him. "Your king is dead. Camelot has fallen."

Merlin's magic threatened to explode from within him, and he fought hard to control it before he gave Morgana the satisfaction of just how much pain her words had caused him.

"I am surprised at you, Merlin. Surely, a sorcerer of your power would know that the king you considered a close friend was gone." Morgana came steadily closer to where he knelt on the floor, watching him carefully as he fought the magic that had him bound to the floor. "Yet, you still fought me. You didn't give up when you knew my dear brother had fallen."

She was toying with him now. Merlin clenched his teeth against the pain, his attention now focused on getting out of his binds so that he could fight more easily. He heard Morgana laugh from somewhere behind him.

"Look at you," she said in a venomous voice. "The most powerful sorcerer ever to live is now at my mercy! Your king is dead, Merlin! Arthur won't save you now. You have no choice but to bow down to me and acknowledge me as your Queen."

Merlin's fury at these words caused his magic to erupt out of him before he even had a chance to stop it. There was a flash of light and a moment later Morgana flew backwards with a scream of rage that caused armed guards to rush into the room.

"You will never be Queen of Camelot!" Merlin roared, his eyes flashing with gold as glass exploded from the windows. "I will never bow down to you, Witch. Even if Arthur is dead, you will have me to contend with. I will be the bane of your existence. For as long as you live, you'll be looking over your shoulder because I will never stop being a threat until you take your final breath!"

Morgana got to her feet so quickly, Merlin believed that he had magicked her to stand. However, a second later she had charged him, sending him sprawling to the ground with a magic so powerful that it felt as if she had run him through with a sword.

"You dare defy me, Sorcerer?" Morgana said in a deadly whisper. "You dare go against your own people?"

Merlin struggled to his knees, breathing hard as though he had run from a great distance, and gave her a defiant stare. "You and your followers are not my people. You are nothing more than a coward that has no heart."

Morgana's lip twisted into a snarl but Merlin continued, his eyes boring straight into hers with such ferocity that it was almost magic itself. "You are no Queen, Morgana. You never will be. For as long as you wear that crown and sit in that throne you will be cursed. I guarantee that for as long as you live, you will know nothing of happiness. For as long as you wear that crown, you will know nothing but pain, that much I promise."

For a moment, there was a deadly silence, but then Morgana grabbed hold of his hair and dragged him upwards. Merlin grunted in pain as he was pulled up as much as the ropes would allow him to, the binds biting into his flesh and causing him to grit his teeth and bite back the cry of agony that was about to escape from the back of his throat.

"There is no curse in the world that can make me suffer as much as I have within the past few years," she snarled in his ears as her soldiers gave an appreciative whoop at the sight of Merlin's pain. "You've taken everything from me. Now, I've taken everything from you. Arthur is dead. There is no one to save you now."

Merlin yelled out in pain as Morgana forced the ropes to tighten before throwing him to the floor. He looked up at her, stars dancing before his eyes as he struggled to breathe.

The last thing Merlin heard before he slipped into unconsciousness was Morgana's dire warning that from now on he'd suffer nothing but pain.


End file.
